One of my 5th grade teachers had a poster on his wall of a famous speech by Patrick Henry – and he often gave dramatic readings of it, encouraging us to give readings of it as well. I still remember the highlight of the speech to this day:
I have absolutely no idea why we did this in his class – he was our science and math teacher – but I will always appreciate those days with Mr. V at Mulberry Elementary School in Muscatine.
I will never forget my government class with Mr. Hansen at Muscatine High School. In addition to being required to read The Federalist Papers 10 and 51, we were given an assignment I continue to appreciate: we spent several days discussing political topics that were issues at the time (fall 2003) – then we were given one topic and told to write a detailed essay on what a founding father’s opinion would be if he were alive today and why, based on their writings and opinions, we believe they would come to that conclusion.
I don’t remember which topic I wrote about, but I distinctly remember writing from the perspective of Thomas Jefferson, the conclusion being he would oppose almost every single power of the federal government on the grounds of state’s liberties.
The fear of political factions and the importance of creating independent branches of government stick with me to this day and I have Mr. Hansen to thank for those lessons in United States civics.
Also at Muscatine High School, I was part of the Speech and Debate Team. While I tried my hand at Extemporaneous Speech, I wasn’t very good at it. Instead, I stuck with Lincoln-Douglas debate. In this style of debate, you were given a debate topic well in advance and you were tasked with writing arguments both for and against the topic. On the day of the debate, you would typically have to argue your case, only being told which side you were supposed to argue right before starting.
I still believe strongly that the requirement to look at both sides of any issue is extremely important. It helps me on a daily basis to understand the perspective of others as I do my best to encourage civil dialogue and promote civil discussion.
* When he said “I FORBID IT” he would slam a yardstick down on his desk for dramatic effect. I would also like to note that Patrick Henry was a well-known abolitionist who spoke often about the freedom and the immorality of slavery, yet also owned many slaves and did not even choose to free them upon his death. I certainly did not know that in fifth grade.
Somehow, I even have sources when talking about my memories:
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
The Federalist Number 10, [22 November] 1787
The Federalist No. 51, [6 February 1788]
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